Counting Stars
by Random Tea Room
Summary: They loved each other like this summer would be there last. Post season four graduation, Damon/Elena centric
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: Counting Stars  
**Summary**: They loved each other like this summer would be their last. Post season four graduation, Damon/Elena centric  
**Notes**: I'm usually better at writing the formerly tragic and tortured relationship of Damon and Elena, but I think in light of recent events, it's time to have some fun. These are unrelated oneshots that all take place after 4x23 up until Elena starts school in the fall. They're not in any particular order. The title is from OneRepublic's song which contains the line "Everything that kills me makes me feel alive", and to me that's so very Damon/Elena. Without further adieu, here we go!

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"What?" she demanded one night when she caught Damon staring. She was strewn across the couch with his shirt buttoned around her and lace panties hugging her hips. A tumbler was in her hand as it lay dangling over the edge of the couch. Bringing it to her lips and tipping it back, she emptied the contents and set it on the side table. Then she sauntered over to Damon, eyes flashing mischief and demanding an answer. He kept his eyes on her, still marveling in this familiar yet unfamiliar girl. He was used to the hesitant, the coy, the I-don't-know-what-I-feel and the I-know-but-I'm-too-afraid from her; he wasn't used to the sexy, stealthy I-know-what-I-want-and-it's-you-come-hither Elena.

"What's that look?" she asked again, slinging one leg over his hips and pulling herself onto the chair he was sitting in. He didn't avert his eyes; he just gave her a cheeky smile.

"No doom and gloom," he quipped, "is a very good look on you." He shifted his hips, and soft, tiny hands braced themselves against his chest; he laughed. "Still feisty, though."

"It's nice to see you being yourself again." She dipped her head to press a kiss against his shoulder and then pulled her head back up. A smile stretched across her face as a thought passed through her. "This was how it was before my parents... I was fun. And happy. But there was always something missing."

The fact that she had just referenced her parents' death, and the smile hadn't faltered, was almost too much for Damon. He took her hand, turning it over.

"And now?" he prompted unnecessarily.

"I think…" she began, her eyes focused on the fire behind him. "I think new things are missing now. You never forget about the people you lose. It's more about finding the people you never knew you needed."

He touched her cheek, mesmerized by the sober tone of her voice in the hazy drunkenness that encompassed their night. Slowly, her eyes locked with his, she moved her head to kiss him again, agonizingly slow and purposeful. It were these moments that he marveled under, the moments not quite like Denver or in his room after the Miss Mystic Falls pageant. Those had always been furious moments of passion, desperate attempts to connect in such a short amount of time. This, this was different. There was no definite end to the way her tongue traced lazy circles on his neck or how she gently ran her fingers over his cheeks and down his chest.

She arched her back as he slipped open the buttons on his shirt that she was wearing. He took it all in between kisses, these moments that were pure and slow and delicate and so unlike anything he had ever experienced. (And by the look in her eyes and the way she trembled, he guessed she felt the same.)

There was nothing to hide.

"I love you, I love you, I love you."

Her whispers mixed with the heat of the fire and the dimness of the room, and he closed his eyes and breathed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Counting Stars  
**Summary:** They loved each other like this summer would be their last. Post season four graduation, Damon/Elena centric  
**Notes:** Of course I decide to write a lighthearted group of one shots, and it's already turned into drama and such. The next one will be fluffy I promise!

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Loving Stefan was easier, Elena decided one morning. She guessed she had always known it, but as she stood looking into her bathroom mirror with tears in her eyes and her hands in her hair, she owned up to it.

Her and Damon fought a lot. He frustrated her to no end, like the night before. They'd been in a club, reminiscent of their college visit a few months back, except this time the dancing with dirtier and more meaningful, and Bonnie wasn't lingering disapprovingly on the outskirts.

But it had happened.

It was an accident.

But she killed someone nevertheless.

"He had a heart condition," Damon had pleaded with her. "The stress of feeding was just too much. It could have happened to anyone."

"But why me?" she hissed unreasonably, her fist flying to the nearest lamppost. "Leave me alone, Damon. You think since I killed people when my humanity was off, that makes everything okay. Well it doesn't."

"I never said it did, Elena," he reasoned, walking up to her with both hands up. "I'm just saying there's some baggage that comes with being a vampire. Accidents happen. You have to get past this kind of stuff."

"You don't understand!" She turned away, beginning to walk back to his car, hands stuffed in her leather jacket and eyes streaming. "You'll never understand."

"You're right, Elena," he finally said, eyes narrowing as he stopped his advance. "I'm _never_ going to be Stefan. I thought you knew what you signed up for. I'll be there for you until the end, and you know that, but I'm not going to pretend I'm okay with this. You're going to hurt yourself. Here..."

She looked like she was internally arguing with herself over what he said as he approached her, reaching for her hand.

Being with Damon was about learning to accept who she was. It was about being stuck in hard situations and having to think and fight her way out. It was unconditional love without the coddling and sheltering; he was the raw everything, raw emotions, passions, anger, and understanding.

She didn't have to hide.

"_No_," she whispered, jerking her hand back. "I can't, I – "

"Elena," he said, straightening her out, his hands on her shoulders, looking into her eyes. "Shh. Get it together."

And then she punched him repeatedly, hand after hand, fists flying against his chest. She wasn't sure if she was screaming, if her mind registered that the searing noise was coming from her mouth, but it didn't matter in that moment. Damon backed up to the lamppost with a dent from her fist earlier as she shoved him, tears showing no signs of stopping.

"It's – not – _fair_!"

After a few more jabs, he tried grabbing her hand again; this time she froze, eyes locking with his, searching. Then she pulled her hand away for the second time. It rested with the other at her side, hesitant and taunt.

She kissed him in a flash, on him in the speed of lightening, and he didn't even seem surprised.

Full on, desperate, trembling hands fiercely pulling him closer until they found a place to hold onto his shirt in tiny fists. She kissed him hungrily, her body flushed against his, and he stood there, following with a matched aggression but letting her have her way. When she pulled back, her forehead rested on his, her chest was rising and falling rapidly.

She didn't shake anymore, and she wasn't crying.

"You're going to be fine," he whispered into her ear, pressing a kiss against her forehead and then nudging her to start walking towards the car.

She grabbed his hand and didn't let go until they entered the boarding house.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Counting Stars  
Summary: They loved each other like this summer would be their last. Post season four graduation, Damon/Elena centric  
Notes: This is kind of random, and I'm still trying to find my footing in these oneshots. Hope you like this little glimpse at their town-hopping that occurred over their summer (… in my mind).

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Sometimes he liked to watch her.

He stared from the crowd as Elena danced on the bar, her eyes crinkled and peals of laughter ringing from her and mixing with the lyrics of the deliciously outdated music that was playing. She was drawing attention from most everyone in the crowded little room. But attention was okay here, away from Mystic Falls. This time they were in Boston, the nightlife wild and secret and in the palms of their hands.

He finished his drink, looking at his reflection absently in the glass. He couldn't help but give a characteristic devilish smirk before pushing his chair back and starting over to join his girl. A few steps and a brunette fell into him, drink and all; he steadied her as his first reaction before he realized the glint in her eyes – her carefully-trained, on-purpose stunt to catch his attention.

"I'm so sorry," she burst out, her voice very convincing. She faux-timidly took away her hand as if she hadn't just realized she was clutching his arm.

Raising an eyebrow, he said nothing and shook his head, aiming to slip past her.

Oh, but she was going to be defiant.

"I really am sorry," she whined from behind him. "Let's have a drink."

He glanced up at the bar to catch a glimpse of her.

That was the thing about Elena; she had every reason to be jealous, but she trusted him so fully and completely that she liked to watch events like these. And he was right, seeing as her eyes were staring him down, a venomous smile drawing one side of her mouth up in a coy, satisfied smile. It was a vain and dirty little secret of the otherwise perfect and selfless Elena Gilbert. There was a part of her that demanded Damon was hers and that all other girls must witness the charmer and beauty they missed out on.

(And they didn't even get to know how faithful he was, how unconditional his love was, how gentle and rough he could be with her at the same time.)

Reveling in this superficial situation made her fierce and bright.

When he joined her on the bar, he matched her moves. It was one of those things where people knew they probably shouldn't be so absorbed in two strangers, but they were anyways. All eyes focused on them, and Elena decided to show off as Damon jumped down from the bar and turned back to help her. Using her cheerleader skills and her newly acquired vampire accuracy, she landed a perfect flip dismount. Taking his outstretched hand, she looked back at the crowd and waved, flashing a dazzling smile. Then, together, they walked out and disappeared into the night just as stealthily as they had come.

Trips like these with Damon were fun and exciting, Elena reflected as she bumped his shoulder and teased him over the latest girl. She didn't have to worry about her friends dying and her brother being in danger; she didn't have to worry about what Caroline would say or how Stefan would react every time she leaned into Damon. This summer was filled with her selfish needs to be with Damon and only him. She was sure that if she didn't have a commitment with Bonnie and Caroline, he would take her across the world. And she was sure he'd do that someday; she'd just have to wait.

But as long as she had summers like these where she could act out and loose herself and laugh every ten minutes, she could wait.

After all, Damon had waited decades to find her.

She could wait.


End file.
